Oas, Albay: A Case Study of Community Participation On Health in a Post-devolution Philippines

Abstract

Although legislations like the Local Government Code were made to bring about participation, the community of Oas was not empowered in planning and other essential aspects of project. The provision of mechanisms like the Local Health Board (LHB) in line with the improvement of health service delivery in the municipalities and cities did not have a considerable impact. Local chief executive of the town was said to have a shallow interpretation of the legislation. Health was not prioritized with the scarce budget that the municipality have. Consultations were not conducted because scarcity of budget. Local officials believe that, “there is no need to consult the community since budget is lacking”. This statement itself is unacceptable for the researcher. The fact that the budget of the municipality is short, better decision-making and prioritization of programs and projects is a necessity. Better decision-making and prioritization can be achieved through participation of the community in consultations conducted by the barangay captains with the help of the Barangay Health Workers (BHWs). Real health needs of the people will be made known to the authorities through consultations. In turn, public officials will know what projects to prioritize in the locality. The above-mentioned explanation of scarce budget and community participation relation is essential but cannot be practiced in the municipality of Oas for the following reasons: low economic status of the majority of the residents, lack of community education regarding the empowering mechanisms provided by the Local Government Code (LGC), and local officials’ misinterpretation of the LGC provisions. Lower economic status of the people hinders participation as expected by the authors of the code. The intent might be good but residents of Oas cannot shed much of their time due to their preoccupations, jobs and sidelines. Instead of participating in projects beneficial to their health, people prefer to earn for a living than to attend meetings for consultations that serve as an avenue to voice out their problems. They find it practical to spend the day in the field than to attend discussions in the barangay. Community’s lack of knowledge about the mechanisms brought about by the devolution can be claimed to be the basic problem that lead to non-participation. Majority of the people are unaware of the provisions of the said legislation. Therefore, we cannot expect them to participate in the planning, resource allocation and evaluation of projects. Limited participation (only in project implementation) is present because of the limited understanding and worse, ignorance of the law.